This textbook teaches students how to write computer programs on the MATLAB platform and to use many of MATLAB's built-in functions to solve engineering-type problems. To students, MATLAB's built-in functions are black boxes. By combining a textbook on MATLAB with basic numerical and analytical analysis, the mystery of what the black boxes contain is somewhat alleviated. Within each chapter there are exercises related to the topics just covered. The text contains many examples from mechanical, civil, aeronautical, and electrical engineering.

William Bober, PhD, received his BS in civil engineering from the City College of New York (CCNY), his MS in engineering science from Pratt Institute, and his PhD in engineering science and aerospace engineering from Purdue University.

He worked as an associate engineering physicist in the Applied Mechanics Department at Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory in Buffalo, New York, was employed as an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and is an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), working in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Civil Engineering at FAU.